Azerbaijani woman’s decades-long collection now holds 8,000 miniature books

Image Credit: Azerbaijan.az An Azerbaijani woman’s decades-long interest in miniature books has grown into a museum containing about 8,000 tiny publications from 76 countries. The Museum of Miniature Books stands in Baku’s Old City, close to the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, where books small enough to resemble postage stamps or matchboxes are displayed behind glass. Founded by Zarifa Salakhova, the museum brings together religious texts, literary classics, rare editions and unusually small works from different parts of the world. What began as a personal collection has become a permanent public display devoted entirely to the unique art of miniature publishing.How did Zarifa Salakhova build the miniature book museumThe collection began long before the museum opened. According to AzerbaijanTravel, Salakhova acquired an 1835 facsimile edition of Ivan Krylov’s Fables in Moscow in 1982. That purchase developed into a serious interest in miniature books, eventually leading her to gather editions from different countries over many years. AZERTAC (The Azerbaijan State News Agency) reports that she spent more than 30 years building the private collection before opening it to visitors in 200...